


Loved?

by screamingatstars



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Gen, LUVD Crystal, Mentioned Entrapta, Pining, Post-Season/Series 03, Runes, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21922549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamingatstars/pseuds/screamingatstars
Summary: Hordak needs to know what the First Ones rune on his crystal means. To get his answers (and his closure), he initiates a temporary cease-fire and asks the Princess of Power to translate for him.Set sometime after the events of season 3, but before Horde Prime’s arrival on Etheria.
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 126
Collections: Shera





	Loved?

**Author's Note:**

> Hordtrapta has consumed my soul and I need the next season of She-Ra immediately

Lord Hordak had requested the presence of She-Ra in the Fright Zone. Despite his ongoing war with the Princess Alliance, and the incredible amount of risks he would be taking, Hordak had called a temporary cease-fire in exchange for a single meeting with the Princess of Power. Even before they had reluctantly accepted his offer, he had a ship packed with supplies, fueled and ready to depart for the edge of his territory at a moment’s notice.

He gripped the edge of his work table, glaring down at it as he contemplated the reason he had been forced to do so. It was a matter of grave importance, he had told himself. Research and progress could not continue unless he knew the meaning of this, he convinced himself. 

Deep down, he knew it wasn’t so. But his faulty, flawed heart demanded closure.

It was a simple First Ones crystal, small and unassuming. It was currently residing inside his chest plate, quite literally holding him (and his armor) together with its power. Without it, he would quite possibly be dead within minutes.

Engraved onto the crystal’s purple surface was a strange rune. A First Ones rune. Hordak himself could not read what it said, as much as he desperately wished otherwise. The language was indecipherable to not only himself, but all in the Fright Zone.

But the meaning of the engraving hadn’t mattered before. It was just a decoration, a detail he didn’t need to concern himself about. 

The situation had changed. Completely and unexpectedly. 

When En- when  _ she  _ left, Hordak… had been left drifting. Unable to focus on the portal, on his armor, on the invasion of the rest of Etheria, on the war, nothing. As had been the case before, all his thoughts still belonged to her- only now, instead of conjuring better ways to channel energy for their machines or correctly express his… appreciation, he was trying to see through her deception. She had convinced him perfectly. Hordak hadn’t doubted her sincerity and complete devotion to science for even a moment. She had become, against his better judgement, his confidante, his most trusted lab partner. His  _ only  _ lab partner. 

When he had collapsed, when she had seen him at his most vulnerable, in his true, weakened state, she had quite literally built him back up. Fashioned improved armor to keep him alive and make him stronger, told him he was enough. That his imperfections were beautiful. He had never heard anything of that nature before, when he served Horde Prime.

She was the one to give him the engraved crystal.

But after everything they had made together...

Hordak was snapped from his internal reverie by the door sliding open. He turned, scowling, to find Force Captain Scorpia there.

“Uh, Lord Hordak! Sir!” She rushed to salute him, the action made awkward and clumsy by her large claws. “The Princesses just sent us- uh, that is, we’ve just received a message- um, well-“

“Get to the point, Force Captain,” Hordak hissed. “My patience wears thin.” Force Captain Scorpia nodded vigorously before squaring her shoulders, her words coming out more evenly this time.

“She-Ra is on her way to the meeting point, sir! You’re clear to leave whenever you want.” She winced, smiling wide, as if to compensate for her previous lack of professionalism. He grumbled to himself about the quality of Force Captains nowadays and dismissed her with a wave, even as his other hand gravitated to the crystal in his chest and his foolish heart seemed to speed its beating. Answers would be coming soon.

—

But not nearly soon enough, it seemed. The three minutes it took him to get to the transport from his lab were three minutes too many. And the amount of time it took to get the ship in the air and moving was atrocious. Even with his presence looming over the soldiers scurrying to perform the final checks, he wasn’t able to depart until almost an hour after Force Captain Scorpia delivered her message.

Unnecessary delays aside, he was on his way now, flying at top speed towards the agreed-upon meeting point at the very edge of the Fright Zone, where the bare rock ended and the Whispering Woods began. As neutral a location as they could agree upon without resorting to the Crimson Waste. 

It was essentially a straight path to his destination, which gave Hordak plenty of time to contemplate the possible outcomes of this meeting. He couldn’t help but touch the crystal again, as he found himself doing far too often as of late. The elusive meaning of its marking taunted him, the rune flitting through his mind’s eye. 

Until the navigation began to beep incessantly, warning him that the meeting point was drawing near. He silenced it quickly, scanning the horizon. He found it almost immediately: the large outcropping of stone that jutted up at the very edge of the Whispering Woods, it’s edge almost touching fluttering leaves. This was where they had arranged to meet, and arrive at almost the same time. 

She-Ra wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He must have arrived before her, in a stroke of luck. Now he had a chance to compose himself once again. Or a chance for his traitorous thoughts to begin wandering back to-

A thunderous crack resounded through the air. It had come from the Whispering Woods; relatively nearby, too, if the flocks of flying creatures taking to the skies were any indication. Something was coming. Had the Princesses decided to take advantage of the situation to end him? He could just barely hear a sort of thumping sound, and were those… footsteps?

The forest stilled, just for a moment. The wind settled, leaves stopped fluttering. And then She-Ra stumbled out of the forest, her sword held awkwardly in one hand, dragging what appeared to be a mangled transport out of the Woods behind her with the other. The show of strength was probably a calculated move, he thought, a tactical way of subtly threatening him-

She-Ra suddenly let go of the destroyed craft, thumping a fist into its surface with an angry scream. The metal warped under her hand, creaking and groaning. She yelled and kicked it, then again, getting similar results. When she turned to face Hordak’s direction, she looked surprisingly angry, frustrated, like her guard was down: not exactly the best tactician, then. 

He stepped towards her, clasping his hands together behind his back.

“I see I have overestimated your prowess,  _ Princess. _ ” He allowed a derisive sneer to creep into his voice. “I wonder, are your translation skills as refined as your apparent piloting skills?”

She-Ra glared at him, fists clenched, and advanced on him with quite a bit of stomping. 

“Hordak,” she practically growled, just barely stopping feet away from him. “We’re on a ceasefire here, so let’s just get this over with before-“

“Before what, exactly?” She was a fool if she didn’t sense the imminent danger she was in. “Choose your next words carefully, Princess. My forces are more than prepared to march on Brightmoon if the terms of our agreement are violated.”

“I never said I wouldn’t- ugh, never mind.” She took a breath, then forced a smile at him. “What do you need me to translate, Hordak?”

He nodded approval before gesturing to his crystal, trying to keep the movements casual. As if he wasn’t dying to know. 

“This,” he stated simply. “This rune.” Was his voice too high, too low? The Rebellion couldn’t know about his weakness. He had to control this.

She-Ra, for her part, looked confused. 

“Wait… that’s it?” She peered closer at the crystal, brow scrunching. “That’s why we called an entire ceasefire, why we had to come all the way out here to meet? One little rune?”

“Yes, one little rune,” Hordak said through gritted teeth. “If you wouldn’t mind  _ translating  _ one little rune, it would be much appreciated.” He could hear the impatience. Desperation was clawing at his throat, telling him to get her to translate now, now, now. 

_ Entrapta… _

“Well, I don’t know how someone like you ended up with this,” started She-Ra, touching her chin thoughtfully. Pondering. Thinking. Wasting his time! “Who-“

Something snapped inside him.

“Enough games, Princess! Tell me what it means, at once!” He bellowed, breaking his composed stance to jab a finger at her. “Or the forces of the Fright Zone will invade sooner than you are prepared for!”

“It says ‘loved’!” She cried out, stumbling backwards and summoning her sword. “There, you got what you wanted! Now get back!”

Loved?

The crystal… said ‘loved’?

“Are you certain?” He wasn’t sure if he spoke the words aloud or only thought them, but he did get a response. She-Ra nodded at him, still holding her sword between them as she retreated backwards, glancing at the Woods at her back.

“I’m sure… and, uh, if it’s all cool with you I’m going to declare our meeting over now. I’ll just, ah, see myself out.” 

He didn’t bother acknowledging her. There was no point. She wasn’t important anymore. Nothing was, except for this new revelation.

Loved…

He could practically feel the cracks in his denial widening, until it all came shattering down and he was faced with the truth.

Entrapta, his lab partner, the princess who had loudly shoved her way into his faulty, flawed heart- Ah, how it hurt to admit!- She who had pulled him together and given him something to live for besides his fleet and his brother, had not betrayed him. She had never betrayed him. 

Because she… loved him.

Well. This information changed the situation drastically.

He readied his ship and started the journey back towards the Fright Zone, radioing the first Force Captain he could think of as he went.

“Force Captain Scorpia, begin preparations for a transport. Load as many provisions and medical supplies on it as you can. I want every soldier in the Fright Zone on this assignment, to be ready when I return.”

“Uh, sure thing, boss! Sir! I mean… wait, everyone? What’s this all for?”

He gripped the ship’s controls tight. Metal creaked under his hands.

“I am going to Beast Island.”

**Author's Note:**

> please inform me of any typos you find  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
